Seymour Centre and Clockfire Theatre Company are delighted to present the full-scale world premiere of Emily Ayoub and Madeline Baghurst’s profoundly affecting theatrical work RUINS أطلال at the Reginald Theatre from 25th September to 18th October.  

Following a critically acclaimed limited run at Belvoir St Theatre’s 25A season in 2024, RUINS أطلال returns to Sydney as a fully expanded production within the 2025 Seymour Season. 

This visually rich production interweaves themes of sacrifice, migration, and homeland, inviting audiences to reflect on a profound question: How far back does home begin?  

Grief-stricken by her father’s sudden death, Amelia Alissa travels to her ancestral homeland, Lebanon. Amid the ancient Baalbek ruins and the faded splendour of the Palmyra Hotel, a place alive with memory and myth, she begins to uncover the fragments of her past. 

Her journey, entwined with a timeless tale of migration and sacrifice, runs alongside her father’s homecoming story during Lebanon’s civil war in the 1980s. As the two paths converge, Amelia is drawn into the truths of legacy, sacrifice and the meaning of home. 

Directed by Emily Ayoub (Clockfire Theatre Co.’s Plenty of Fish in the Sea) and devised by Ayoub and Madeline Baghurst (Clockfire Theatre Co’s Plenty of Fish in the Sea), the production features an outstanding cast including Randa Sayed (NTOP’s Postcards From The Wire), Youssef Sabet (National Theatre of Parramatta’s Karim), Adeeb Razouk (PACT’s Papers from the Citadel), Tony Poli (TV’s Underbelly II: Tale of Two Cities), Piumi Wijesundara (Panibharatha Theatre’s I Came. I Ate. I Left: An Anthology on Migration).   

Through the magic of visual storytelling, RUINS أطلال explores the emotional landscapes of displacement and belonging with poetic depth.